Blackpool Pleasure Beach
24-25th August
In attendance - Myself and a few other good friends (RCCGB members)
Weather - mainly dry with a few lashings of rain, sometimes hot, sometimes windy.
24th August
My friend Dave and I travelled up to Blackpool on the Wednesday morning and got there for early afternoon where we met up with our friend Steve at our B&B.
After dumping our stuff, it was off to the Pleasure beach for an afternoon/evening of riding. As usual, even though the place was bustling with people, queues were limited, with a lot of rides being walk on. Maybe that’s because there is so much to see and do.
The Grand National (1935 Charles Paige racing wooden coaster) was flying due to the torrential rain earlier in the day. The Pepsi Max Big One (1994 Arrow Hyper Coaster) was up against the wind, but still fairly fast (still boring in my opinion!). Avalanche (1988 Mack Bobsled coaster) zipped around the track like a wild thing.
For dinner, we ate at the excellent Fielding’s fish bar along Simpson Street (If you are ever in Blackpool and like fish and chips, I'd recommend stopping here).
The Coral Island entertainment complex (near central pier) was our last main stop of the day. As well as the usual arcade machines, the place has a monorail ride and a ghost train, which was well worth the pound that it costs to ride it.
The rest of the evening was spent supping on beers back at our Bed & Breakfast accomodation.
25th August – This was the main day at the Pleasure Beach
Today we were joined by four more of our friends. We decided that rather than rush round riding everything as many times as possible, we'd take our time getting around the attractions, especially as we’ve all been to Blackpool (some of us many times) before.
First ride (and fittingly last) of the day was of course the Grand National (my #2 woodie), which was flying around the track. There was ejector airtime in every seat, especially at the front. All of us came back into the station laughing.
Other rides ridden included:
The Wild Mouse (1958 wooden structured wild mouse coaster) – This ride is as wild, crazy and fun as ever. I absolutely love it. Long may it stay at the Pleasure Beach!
Bling (Zierer Star Shape) – I’ve waited just over a year to ride this thing (has been closed on previous occasions). So, what did I think of it? Utterly dreadful in my opinion. There were no real forces whatsoever and hardly any flipping (inverting) action. I’ve learnt (from a ride op) it could be run a lot wilder and faster than it is presently, but they’ve ‘lost the key’ (hmmm). Like Spin Doctor (Huss boosters) I won’t be bothering with this ride ever again unless the setting is changed.
Big Dipper (1923 John Miller wooden coaster) – A surprising amount of airtime could be found on this ride. Probably due to the moist track.
Grand Prix (cars which run along a single track with speed being controlled by the riders) – I’d never ridden this until the previous day. It was a good laugh, especially seeing Steve overshooting the stop line by a fair bit!
Space Invader 2 – Tis a fun ride for what it is (which is essentially a Zierer 4 man bob in the dark). Not worth doing if the queues stretch as far back as the entrance though.
Avalanche – Was once again running breathtakingly fast. Didn’t really rate this coaster much on previous visits, but my opinion has now drastically changed! Yes its short, but its also very sweet.
River Caves – The themeing on this attraction is stunning. Really shows what theme/amusement parks can do if they really put their mind to it and go all out. Definitely one of the best dark rides out there.
Pepsi Max Big One – Already mentioned this ride from our previous day of riding, was still pretty slow when cresting the hills. Almost fell asleep!
Alice Ride – Fitting five of us into a car suitable for only four people was a laugh and a half. We even had to use the extension seat belt. Wish I’d caught the ride ops name. One cool dude.
The ride itself still smells of sherbert and is as weird and wonderful as I remember it being. A classic dark ride.
Irn Bru Revolution (Arrow launched loop coaster) – There is airtime going into the loop, exiting the loop, and going back down into the loop in reverse. Some people say that this ride is a waste of space, but I personally think that it is a whole lot of fun, and is still thrilling after all the years it’s been in operation.
Roller Coaster (1933 Charles Paige wooden roller coaster) – A joy to ride as ever. I had to laugh when Steve told me it should be torn down because it isn’t thrilling enough. That because it’s not supposed to be. There was some nice floaty airtime on the hill, especially when going through the tunnel. Classic ride.
Steeplechase (1977 Arrow single rail roller coaster with three tracks) – Suffered some major problems through the day including an evacuation. Eventually got on it after about 20 minutes of queuing.
Ghost Train – A classic ride if there was one. I am a huge fan of ghost trains, and Blackpool’s is my favourite. It just reeks of nostalgia and is genuinely fun though hardly scary.
Gold Mine – lengthly gold mine themed (now there’s a surprise!) dark ride with a ‘very’ friendly ride op called Shaun.
Noah’s Ark – I can think of many words to describe this attraction, weird, wonderful, charming, and surreal being some of them. It’s basically a funhouse in a boat! If you’ve never tried it out, it’s well worth a look in.
In the evening some of our party left for home while the rest of us headed to the South Pier fun fair. a couple of us took a spin on Storm Chaser, a Huss break dance. It was on an excellent setting, long and forceful. The bumper cars were the most brutal I have ridden. I’m surprised I didn’t get whip lash! A good laugh was had taking on the ride ops! Then it was back to the B&B for more drinks.
Next day we returned to South Pier, then went to the Louis Tussaud’s (cousin of Madame) waxworks (better than I thought they would be!), then drove home. Dave and I shared the driving as we did on the way up also. Made the journey that much more pleasant.
Kipped at Dave’s overnight before the driving home the following morning.
Pictures can be found
here
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